547 research outputs found
Anomalous scaling in a non local growth model in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class
We study the interface dynamics of a discrete model to quantitatively
describe electrochemical deposition experiments. Extensive numerical
simulations indicate that the interface dynamics is unstable at early times,
but asymptotically displays the scaling of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality
class. During the time interval in which the surface is unstable, its power
spectrum is anomalous; hence the behaviors at length scales smaller than or
comparable with the system size are described by different roughness exponents.
These results are expected to apply to a wide range of electrochemical
deposition experiments.Comment: REVTEX (4 pages) and three figures (postscript), to be published in
PRE (rapid communication, March, 1998
Photonic realization of the relativistic Kronig-Penney model and relativistic Tamm surface states
Photonic analogues of the relativistic Kronig-Penney model and of
relativistic surface Tamm states are proposed for light propagation in fibre
Bragg gratings (FBGs) with phase defects. A periodic sequence of phase slips in
the FBG realizes the relativistic Kronig-Penney model, the band structure of
which being mapped into the spectral response of the FBG. For the semi-infinite
FBG Tamm surface states can appear and can be visualized as narrow resonance
peaks in the transmission spectrum of the grating
Fluorescence decay in aperiodic Frenkel lattices
We study motion and capture of excitons in self-similar linear systems in
which interstitial traps are arranged according to an aperiodic sequence,
focusing our attention on Fibonacci and Thue-Morse systems as canonical
examples. The decay of the fluorescence intensity following a broadband pulse
excitation is evaluated by solving the microscopic equations of motion of the
Frenkel exciton problem. We find that the average decay is exponential and
depends only on the concentration of traps and the trapping rate. In addition,
we observe small-amplitude oscillations coming from the coupling between the
low-lying mode and a few high-lying modes through the topology of the lattice.
These oscillations are characteristic of each particular arrangement of traps
and they are directly related to the Fourier transform of the underlying
lattice. Our predictions can be then used to determine experimentally the
ordering of traps.Comment: REVTeX 3.0 + 3PostScript Figures + epsf.sty (uuencoded). To appear in
Physical Review
Dynamical phenomena in Fibonacci Semiconductor Superlattices
We present a detailed study of the dynamics of electronic wavepackets in
Fibonacci semiconductor superlattices, both in flat band conditions and subject
to homogeneous electric fields perpendicular to the layers. Coherent
propagation of electrons is described by means of a scalar Hamiltonian using
the effective-mass approximation. We have found that an initial Gaussian
wavepacket is filtered selectively when passing through the superlattice. This
means that only those components of the wavepacket whose wavenumber belong to
allowed subminibands of the fractal-like energy spectrum can propagate over the
entire superlattice. The Fourier pattern of the transmitted part of the
wavepacket presents clear evidences of fractality reproducing those of the
underlying energy spectrum. This phenomenon persists even in the presence of
unintentional disorder due to growth imperfections. Finally, we have
demonstrated that periodic coherent-field induced oscillations (Bloch
oscillations), which we are able to observe in our simulations of periodic
superlattices, are replaced in Fibonacci superlattices by more complex
oscillations displaying quasiperiodic signatures, thus sheding more light onto
the very peculiar nature of the electronic states in these systems.Comment: 7 pagex, RevTex, 5 Postscript figures. Physical Review B (in press
Exciton Optical Absorption in Self-Similar Aperiodic Lattices
Exciton optical absorption in self-similar aperiodic one-dimensional systems
is considered, focusing our attention on Thue-Morse and Fibonacci lattices as
canonical examples. The absorption line shape is evaluated by solving the
microscopic equations of motion of the Frenkel-exciton problem on the lattice,
in which on-site energies take on two values, according to the Thue-Morse or
Fibonacci sequences. Results are compared to those obtained in random lattices
with the same stechiometry and size. We find that aperiodic order causes the
occurrence of well-defined characteristic features in the absorption spectra
which clearly differ from the case of random systems, indicating a most
peculiar exciton dynamics. We successfully explain the obtained spectra in
terms of the two-center problem. This allows us to establish the origin of all
the absorption lines by considering the self-similar aperiodic lattices as
composed of two-center blocks, within the same spirit of the renormalization
group ideas.Comment: 16 pages in REVTeX 3.0. 2 figures on request to F. D-A
([email protected]
Linear optical properties of one-dimensional Frenkel exciton systems with intersite energy correlations
We analyze the effects of intersite energy correlations on the linear optical
properties of one-dimensional disordered Frenkel exciton systems. The
absorption line width and the factor of radiative rate enhancement are studied
as a function of the correlation length of the disorder. The absorption line
width monotonously approaches the seeding degree of disorder on increasing the
correlation length. On the contrary, the factor of radiative rate enhancement
shows a non-monotonous trend, indicating a complicated scenario of the exciton
localization in correlated systems. The concept of coherently bound molecules
is exploited to explain the numerical results, showing good agreement with
theory. Some recent experiments are discussed in the light of the present
theory.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figues, REVTeX, to appear in Physical Review
Three-dimensional effects on extended states in disordered models of polymers
We study electronic transport properties of disordered polymers in the
presence of both uncorrelated and short-range correlated impurities. In our
procedure, the actual physical potential acting upon the electrons is replaced
by a set of nonlocal separable potentials, leading to a Schr\"odinger equation
that is exactly solvable in the momentum representation. We then show that the
reflection coefficient of a pair of impurities placed at neighboring sites
(dimer defect) vanishes for a particular resonant energy. When there is a
finite number of such defects randomly distributed over the whole lattice, we
find that the transmission coefficient is almost unity for states close to the
resonant energy, and that those states present a very large localization
length. Multifractal analysis techniques applied to very long systems
demonstrate that these states are truly extended in the thermodynamic limit.
These results reinforce the possibility to verify experimentally theoretical
predictions about absence of localization in quasi-one-dimensional disordered
systems.Comment: 16 pages, REVTeX 3.0, 5 figures on request from FDA
([email protected]). Submitted to Phys. Rev. B. MA/UC3M/09/9
Electron dynamics in intentionally disordered semiconductor superlattices
We study the dynamical behavior of disordered quantum-well-based
semiconductor superlattices where the disorder is intentional and short-range
correlated. We show that, whereas the transmission time of a particle grows
exponentially with the number of wells in an usual disordered superlattice for
any value of the incident particle energy, for specific values of the incident
energy this time increases linearly when correlated disorder is included. As
expected, those values of the energy coincide with a narrow subband of extended
states predicted by the static calculations of Dom\'{\i}nguez-Adame {\em et
al.} [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 51}, 14 ,359 (1994)]; such states are seen in our
dynamical results to exhibit a ballistic regime, very close to the WKB
approximation of a perfect superlattice. Fourier transform of the output signal
for an incident Gaussian wave packet reveals a dramatic filtering of the
original signal, which makes us confident that devices based on this property
may be designed and used for nanotechnological applications. This is more so in
view of the possibility of controllingthe outp ut band using a dc electric
field, which we also discuss. In the conclusion we summarize our results and
present an outlook for future developments arising from this work.Comment: 10 pagex, RevTex, 13 Postscript figures. Physical Review B (in press
Energy spectra of quasiperiodic systems via information entropy
We study the relationship between the electronic spectrum structure and the
configurational order of one-dimensional quasiperiodic systems. We take the
Fibonacci case as an specific example, but the ideas outlined here may be
useful to accurately describe the energy spectra of general quasiperiodic
systems of technological interest. Our main result concerns the {\em
minimization} of the information entropy as a characteristic feature associated
to quasiperiodic arrangements. This feature is shown to be related to the
ability of quasiperiodic systems to encode more information, in the Shannon
sense, than periodic ones. In the conclusion we comment on interesting
implications of these results on further developments on the issue of
quasiperiodic order.Comment: REVTeX 3.0, 8 pages, 3 figures available on request from FD-A
([email protected]), Phys Rev E submitted, MA/UC3M/02/9
Discovery of a Planetary-Mass Brown Dwarf with a Circumstellar Disk
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, the 4 m Blanco telescope at the Cerro
Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have
performed deep imaging from 0.8 to 8 um of the southern subcluster in the
Chamaeleon I star-forming region. In these data, we have discovered an object,
Cha 110913-773444, whose colors and magnitudes are indicative of a very
low-mass brown dwarf with a circumstellar disk. In a near-infrared spectrum of
this source obtained with the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph, the presence
of strong steam absorption confirms its late-type nature (>=M9.5) while the
shapes of the H- and K-band continua and the strengths of the Na I and K I
lines demonstrate that it is a young, pre-main-sequence object rather than a
field dwarf. A comparison of the bolometric luminosity of Cha 110913-773444 to
the luminosities predicted by the evolutionary models of Chabrier and Baraffe
and Burrows and coworkers indicates a mass of 8+7/-3 M_Jup, placing it fully
within the mass range observed for extrasolar planetary companions (M<=15
M_Jup). The spectral energy distribution of this object exhibits mid-infrared
excess emission at >5 um, which we have successfully modeled in terms of an
irradiated viscous accretion disk with M'<=10e-12 M_sun/year. Cha 110913-773444
is now the least massive brown dwarf observed to have a circumstellar disk, and
indeed is one of the least massive free-floating objects found to date. These
results demonstrate that the raw materials for planet formation exist around
free-floating planetary-mass bodies.Comment: 5 pages, accepted to Astrophysical Journal Letter
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